Crapo, Risch, Daines Call on Biden Administration to Include Cottonwood Fix in Federal Budget

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senators Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Steve Daines (R-Montana) called on the Biden Administration to include the full and permanent Cottonwood fix in the President’s Budget for Fiscal Year 2024.  The Senators’ efforts are a continuation of years of efforts advocating for common sense forest management.

“We write today to request your support in the Fiscal Year 2024 President’s Budget for a clean legislative fix to reverse the 2015 Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service (Cottonwood)  decision. An immediate resolution to this decision is vital to allow land managers and wildlife biologists to follow the best available science to improve the health of our forests, reduce the risk of severe wildfires, advance wildlife habitat projects, and support good paying timber jobs. 

“The bipartisan Cottonwood fix passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and has the support of the last three Presidential administrations. Importantly, numerous conservation and sportsmen organizations alike back the fix, signaling how necessary and comprehensive the Cottonwood fix is. Commonsense forest management practices using the best available science are key to protecting western communities and wildlife alike and must be allowed to continue,” the senators wrote.

The full letter is available HERE.

In 2015, the Ninth Circuit Court ruled in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. United States Forest Service (Cottonwood) that the U.S. Forest Service needed to reinitiate consultation with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the programmatic level following the 2009 designation of critical habitat for the Canada lynx.  As a result, courts halted projects during the consultation process throughout the 18 national forests inhabited by lynx.

Senator Crapo has worked for years to reverse the disastrous Cottonwood decision.  Efforts include:

• In 2022, Crapo, Risch and Daines wrote the Biden Administration encouraging it to resolve challenges stemming from the Cottonwood decision and threatening forest management projects;
• In 2020, Crapo, Risch and Daines introduced legislation to provide a legislative fix to the misguided Cottonwood decision and ensure continued responsible forest management on federal lands;
• n 2020, Crapo and Risch introduced legislation to remove a roadblock to responsible forest management efforts on federal lands, which would deliver relief to communities adversely impacted by the misguided Cottonwood decision.

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